Rose. She likes the feel of your nose. She knows that everyone knows her, chose her, sigh. Brown. You like the feel of the ground. To feel it blow all around you, down you, sigh.
Don’t let me slip through. Don’t let me walk invisible by. I am Nature; I get you high.
Green. Too many places unseen. Too many footsteps behind you, bind you, why? Stray. Seek everything far away. Don’t let nobody scold you, mold you, try.
Don’t let me slip through. Don’t let me walk invisible by. I am Nature; I get you high.
Burn. Too many pages to learn. Too many pages to follow, swallow, sigh. Strive. You always fought to survive. You always fought them to conquest, multiply.
Don’t let me slip through. Don’t let me walk invisible by. I am Nature; I get you high.
In the woods they eat their cake
I dare not move now, move now; I sit in wait
I draw my knees up to my chest
Because I know the foods that they like best.
In the woods, they sip their tea
Their eyes dart back and forth so casually
They make their jokes at my expense
They know I’m somewhere somewhere, behind the fence.
IIIII
The night has come. The trees are black.
Do I feel fingers, fingers upon my back?
I need to run- but where to go?
Animals are the only world that I know.
IIIII
They’ll never leave; they’ll never lie
Their yellow teeth, by design
I need to run, but where to go?
Animals are the only world that I know.
IIII
They play their games upon their boards
They toss their heads, they’re growing bored.
Their weight is shifting upon their seats
I know that I should run but I also need to eat.
IIII
They’ll never leave; they’ll never lie
Their yellow teeth, by design
I need to run, but where to go?
Animals are the only world that I know.
You wanted to lie face down in a pool
They lifted you up; they wouldn’t let you fly
They thought that you wanted to die.
You waited for the train; you lay on the tracks
They came to arrest you; they wouldn’t let you fly away, fly away
They said you had to come back.
Knitting at night under the moon
In your mind is a bone; it flies through the sky all alone
That bone is you.
White bone on black sky, swimming through stars
Fly away friend, the whole world is ours
Spreading like vapor, slipping through cracks
The whole world is ours; fly away never come back.
Finally one day you escaped to the moon
Through a bottle of pills and you left a note saying goodbye
Do not follow me, please don’t try.
Not all of us fly, not all of sing
Like a bone in the night sky but you were a king
Stuffed in a jar til the glass had to crack
Now I’m happy for you and I don’t need for you to come back.
Because look at me now, how I stroll through the fields
The grass brushes my leg an electrical feel
Every blade is a song, every blade is a scroll
Oh, the things that I’ve learned! Oh, the things that I know!
Songs about forests, light pours through the trees
Rushing into the wanderer electrical green
Though he covers his eyes, the light seeps through his skin
He was prepared to lose, but now he is destined to win!
Songs about creeks where a man cools his toes
As the water flows through them he suddenly knows why
Why his friend said goodbye.
And other stories like these.
As you know, I love to read.
Heaving myself to the top of the hill
I already know what I’ll see
Beautify, simplify, tell the truth or deny
Nobody leaves this world free.
Look all around me, the clouds that surround me
No one can doubt that God’s demons have found me
Swallow me up in their stomach so blue
Death waits for me as it’s waiting for you.
Hand me that anise now, hand me that tonka bean
Hand me that red root that’s wrapped in a golden string
Hand me that iron kettle, hand me that copper stir
Hand me the fish that we smoked with the balsam fir…
Why? Why?
God I Trusted You
Can you deny that
You left me here, here all alone?
Add a crumble of myrrh and a chip of the ankle bone.
Bitterly I cry
My dreams were buried alive.
Sleep under stars as confining as iron bars
Nobody knows what I see
So many people beneath the same steeple
Not one of us ever breaks free.
Cry cry
All you babies
I can only despise the way
You beg down on your knees
A big smile on your face- won’t you help me, sir, pretty please?
Hand me that bitterness
Hand that thickened blood
Hand me that finger that washed away in the flood
Hand me that acid bile
Hand me that molded cheese
Hand the sperm of the man with the skin disease.
My belt I untie
My dreams were buried alive.
Walk down the hill with a weight off my shoulders
Giving high fives to the trees and the boulders
Soon I will reach the road, soon we will meet again
Carry your satchel and smile like a long lost friend.
Hi Hi
Friend, it’s been so long
Glad to see you again
Look- a beetle crawls there on your shoe
Let me kneel on the earth; let me crush it for you.
Dust on your shoelaces
Dust on your fingerprints
Sprinkle some more on your pocket that’s filled with mints
Sprinkle some more on your hood and your hairy do
Stare in your eyes as the stars come alive in you…
Goodbye to Peanut Lily, one of the neighborhood dogs who used to walk with me.
You held my hand by barbed wire
You covered my mouth trash burned in a fire
The hills rose high
No thrills, no sky
We walked the road through shack and shed
We fed the dogs some whole wheat bread
Likes fleas, like friends
Burdens that bleed, yearnings that end
You cry but all along
I knew that it was wrong
Under my breath I sang a song
I don’t belong, I don’t belong
Good morning dogs scratch at my door
Could I delay for just a moment more?
Cold air, always so gray
Always want more, carried away
Goodbye, Cotton. We will miss you.
You place the slippers on my feet
We watch the kids play on the street
Let’s try to have faith, let’s try to have fun
Look the kid in the stripes, he’s wearing a gun
You cry but all along
I knew that it was wrong
Under my breath I sang a song
I don’t belong, I don’t belong
I set a rock upon a log
I watched the trees dissolving into fog
Forced to remain, forced to hang on
Always the same, just expanded upon
You cry but all along
I knew that it was wrong
Under my breath I sang a song
I don’t belong, I don’t belong.
Pikey, remember when we met and we kissed on a stone? We moved away, just the two of us, so far from home?
Do you remember when we wandered through the green fields together? You held my hand, you promised you would hold it forever?
Summertime, you were there You stood by side, shadows fell everywhere like a dream, oh. like a dream, oh.
Gathering the hazelnuts that will help me to learn as I Squint my eyes, far too many lies that I cannot discern
All the friends who used to play with me retreated for the season The dreams that felt so pillowy dissolved into reason
Autumn came, gray and brown You stood by my side as the leaves blew around like a dream, oh. like a dream, oh.
You drew a map upon our wall showing how the land lies You stocked up our basement with so many supplies You made me walk through the gloomy woods for hours each day You lit a fire, you told me you had something to say
Winter comes, don’t despair You won’t see my face, but you know I’ll be there like a dream, oh. like a dream, oh.
Pikey, can you hear me now, cause it’s hard to be brave? Pikey, if I close my eyes can you see my hand wave?
People come with open arms; I don’t want to touch them If you were here, you’d guard the door, with thick hands you’d crush them
Springtime, robin’s nest Green shoots up again, little knife in my chest like a dream, oh. like a dream, oh.
You are so soft and warm, dusted with flowers My face in the palm of your hand, I feel powerful Tell me again that you like my soft head I am an egg I will rest in your bed.
Hold me through nightshirts, hold me through pajama pants Hold me so tight I am forced to give up the dance Tie me to the bed and don’t let me escape from you Outside it’s cold, but you are my you are my
Pillowman dance, Pillowman sing Let me ride, let me ride in your basket that’s filled with the spring Hope will come again, that’s what they say to me Every green blade of grass bends down to pray for me
Filling my dreams with the scent of green fields A world so soft; a world where the obstacles will yield To a kind world, yield to a smile A plate full of cookies will persuade luck to stay for a while
Then I’ll walk back to a world that is cold Where the smiles and the cookies are all bought and sold But first leave me with something I can understand A scrap of pink flannel I’ll hide in my hand
Pillowman guard me, stand watch at my door Comfort me when I can’t comfort myself anymore When it hurts and they’re trying to charm me Knock on my door with intentions to harm me
I bury my face in your pillowy skin Breath through your pores and I feel peace descend To my brain like a powder that fills up my nose Is it true- everything comes and everything goes?
Just then the darkness begins to arise Surprised to find that someone realized That I I I I deserve to be befriended Your hands on my heart til the day it has mended
And as the black blood seeps into my brain Carrying the knowledge that made me go insane Black leather images bite me with fangs Held in your arms, I’m contorting with pangs
But Pillowman fights the past with his soft fists Pulls out his scalpel for the pieces of evil that resist Because I I I deserve to be defended My tears on his sleeve for the things that have ended
Head on your heart and your fuzz fills my ears Stroking my brain as it struggles with so many fears I wish I knew how not to be afraid But until then, Pillowman will be my friend.
Hunched in a field, you sing in deep voices The seeds and the soil of a world without choices Take off your clothes at the end of the day Lie down in a bed made of burlap and hay
The sun sinks, the sky pinks through your window so crude Your feet hard, your back scarred, your stomach needs food But you see your ancestors line up in brown You hear their solemn songs sung in a round
Voice so low, Voices so deep They crossed the ocean for you They crossed the ocean so you could arrive They never died.
Wiping your brow with the back of your brown hand Your eyes are like horses, they run across this land You see more than most, around corners and curves Your heavy mind stays when the lighter mind swerves
Steady and patient, heavy and kind Wearing brown pants made of burlap and twine Nose to the grindstone, monks of the dirt Callouses, sunsets, and visions that hurt
Voice so low, Voices so deep They crossed the ocean for you They crossed the ocean so you could arrive They never died.
Your eyes follow time when it curves round the bend You watch all the lighter ones run to destruction They were mistaken, they thought life had an end They ate all their seeds and then came to the bend
Shocked to discover the road just continued Forced to keep marching without any food You hear their cries and it makes your heart burn But how can you give to them the things they must earn?
Voice so low, Voices so deep They crossed the ocean for you They crossed the ocean so you could arrive They never died.
You know forever, you know eternity As plain as the table where you sit for your cup of tea You counsel your children to never waste seeds Life is long, you must be strong, persist in good deeds.
You tell them to remember when they labor in the fields To listen to the voices that sing in their ears To those who are patient all will be revealed Remember who you are, my sons- potatoes in a field.
Voice so low, Voices so deep They crossed the ocean for you They crossed the ocean so you could arrive They never died.
